Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Cornell-Developed Potato Resistant To Late Blight And Other Diseases

Date:

February 10, 2000

Source:

Cornell University

Summary:

In the 1840's, the late blight fungus, P. Infestans, swept across the potato fields of Ireland, turning the vegetables into a rotten mess and leaving the country's people to fight a losing battle against famine. Now the fungus might have met its match in a potato developed at Cornell University, the New York 121.

Share This

ITHACA, N.Y. -- In the 1840's, the late blight fungus, P. Infestans, swept across the potato fields of Ireland, turning the vegetables into a rotten mess and leaving the country's people to fight a losing battle against famine. A million Irish perished, and a great many others left the country to land on North American shores.

Related Articles

Now the fungus might have met its match in a potato developed at Cornell University, the New York 121.

This small, mild-mannered white potato is able to fend off late blight as well as other pests such as golden nematodes, scab and potato virus Y (PVY) in a single bound.

"This is another in a short line of potatoes resistant to late blight," says Robert Plaisted, Cornell professor emeritus of plant breeding. "Resistance to late blight is one of the hardest things to breed for in potatoes."

The new potato, says Plaisted, is the best clone available that is resistant to both races of golden nematode. "Its additional resistance to late blight, scab and PVY is a rare combination."

Plaisted and his colleagues, Bill Brodie and William Fry, professors in Cornell's plant pathology department, will introduce the new potato at the New York State Vegetable Conference in Liverpool, N.Y., on Feb. 8.

The development of New York 121 dates back more than 30 years when Plaisted acquired seeds of potato varieties grown in the Andes mountains of South America. Repeated selection for adaptation to the New York region and for disease resistance produced the selection E74-7, the mother of NY 121. This selection was important because of its extreme resistance to potato mosaic viruses.

In 1984 Plaisted obtained seeds from the International Potato Center in Peru that had resistance to multiple races of the golden nematode, a soil-borne pest. One generation of breeding produced N43-288, the male parent of New York 121. This parent is mostly of Peruvian ancestry, but includes a wild species from Argentina.

By dusting the female's (E74-7) pistil with the male's (N43-288) pollen nine years ago, Plaisted bred a potato with multiple resistance. Typically it takes 14 years to bring a newly tested and developed potato to market, but New York 121 took less than a decade. In addition to its ability to resist late blight, scab and certain nematodes, it's a mid-season potato that will be good for boiling, perhaps even baking. This is not a good potato, though, for making French fries or chips.

"We need more accurately to measure its yielding ability and the practical value of this blight resistance in terms of reduced sprays. Growers impacted by golden nematodes should be particularly interested in this potato," says Plaisted.

The seed for New York 121 could be available as early as next season from the New York Foundation Seed Farm at Lake Placid, N.Y., operated by Cornell's plant pathology department.

As for the New York 121, Brodie explains there are yield trade-offs in exchange for disease resistance, but overall he is happy about the potato.

"This may not be an end product," he says, "but it is a good start to getting that end product with multiple resistance characteristics."

In addition to the New York 121, Cornell also is introducing two other potato varieties, Keuka Gold and Eva. Keuka Gold is a yellow-flesh potato, good for boiling, which will be known for its flavor and high yields. It is also resistant to scab and golden nematodes. Eva has a bright white skin, also good for boiling, and it is resistant to the mosaic virus, golden Nematode, and scab. It has an unusually long tuber dormancy, which means the potato can be stored longer.

Cornell University. (2000, February 10). Cornell-Developed Potato Resistant To Late Blight And Other Diseases. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/02/000210071954.htm

More From ScienceDaily

More Plants & Animals News

Featured Research

Mar. 31, 2015 — Researchers have recorded the first direct observations of the micro-scale mechanisms behind the ability of skin to resist tearing. The results could be applied to the improvement of artificial skin, ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Soil organic matter, long thought to be a semi-permanent storehouse for ancient carbon, may be much more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought. Scientists have found that the common ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Using the assessment tool ForWarn, US Forest Service researchers can monitor the growth and development of vegetation that signals winter's end and the awakening of a new growing season. Now these ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Until now electric fences and trenches have proved to be the most effective way of protecting farms and villages from night time raids by hungry elephants. But researchers think they may have come up ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — The endangered desert pupfish has made itself at home in the harsh, hot environment of Death Valley hot springs by using a surprising evolutionary adaptation: They can go for up to five hours without ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Researchers have detected a human fingerprint deep in the Borneo rainforest in Southeast Asia. Cold winds blowing from the north carry industrial pollutants from East Asia to the equator, with ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — A team of engineers and biologists reports new progress in using computer modeling and 3D shape analysis to understand how the unique grasping tails of seahorses evolved. These prehensile tails ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — As the five-year anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig approaches, a new report looks at how twenty species of wildlife are faring in the aftermath of the ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Scientists have uncovered the earliest fossilized evidence of an insect caring for its young. The findings push back the earliest direct evidence of insect brood care by more than 50 million years, ... full story

Giant Amphibian Fossils Found in Portugal

Reuters - Light News Video Online (Mar. 31, 2015) — Scientists discover a new species of giant amphibian that was one of the largest predators on earth about 220 million year ago. Tara Cleary reports.
Video provided by Reuters

Bionic Ants Could Be Tomorrow's Factory Workers

Reuters - Innovations Video Online (Mar. 30, 2015) — Industrious 3D printed bionic ants working together could toil in the factories of the future, says German technology company Festo. The robotic insects cooperate and coordinate their actions and movements to achieve a common aim. Amy Pollock reports.
Video provided by Reuters

Related Stories

June 2, 2014 — The cause of potato late blight and the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s has been tracked to a pretty, alpine valley in central Mexico, which is ringed by mountains and now known to be the ancestral ... full story

July 18, 2013 — The plant pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s lives on today with a different genetic blueprint and an even larger arsenal of weaponry to harm and kill ... full story

Sep. 19, 2012 — Researchers have used modern DNA techniques on late nineteenth-century potatoes to show how the potato blight may have survived between cropping seasons after the Irish potato famine of the ... full story

Nov. 18, 2010 — Researchers have made a discovery that could instigate a paradigm shift in breeding resistance to late blight - a devastating disease of potatoes and tomatoes costing the industry £5-6 billion a ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.